


Those Left Behind

by LordGrima



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Major Spoilers, Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24295612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordGrima/pseuds/LordGrima
Summary: Death effects everyone differently, especially when it comes to mourning.
Kudos: 1





	Those Left Behind

The Day After the First Trial

The room was simple in its elegance, at least to Shuichi. The piano itself took up the bulk of the room, highlighting the talent of the one who was meant to be here. The wall lined with DVDs was covered with a thin layer of dust, each of the individual pieces sitting alone and abandoned. A break in the wall was present, a single DVD out of place.

The DVD in question softly played in the room, the gentle keystrokes of Clair de Lune filling both the emptiness of the room and the emptiness within the young man standing by the piano. The song spoke of dreams never fulfilled, and promise that guides the detective forward.

He toyed with an object in his hand, the hat he had left in his room as he tried to be as confident as Kaede was. As the final notes began to sound, Shuichi gently set his hat on the piano’s bench, purposefully leaving enough room for a certain talented individual to sit to play.

Shuichi left the room somberly, not bothering to replace the disk onto its proper place on the wall. He knew this wouldn’t be the last time he came to listen to this particular track.

The Day After the Second Trial

Kaito grunted as he felt the vibration of the ball hitting his racket, the ball shooting back towards the machine on the other side of the lab. A crude rendition of Ryoma stared back at him, the paper pinned between the swinging arms of his mechanical opponent. The ball was quickly hit back to him, the machine's movements adding a perfect arc to the ball as it soared just over Kaito’s racket.

With a huff, he walked across the court, picking up the picture as the machine slowly drew to a halt.

“Wasn’t much of a last game, huh?” Kaito asked the picture. He gently set the picture next to the racket holder, purposefully angling it so that it was not facing the lab’s secondary room.

“Sorry I couldn’t give you another one, but I don’t think I could handle it.” Kaito coughed as he turned to leave the room, his purpose there fulfilled.

The Morning After the Third Trail

Himiko sat quietly in Tenko’s lab, the mats providing a somewhat comfortable spot to do so. She felt her emotions rising again, but didn’t feel the need to start crying again after last night. Sure Tenko had told her to be more in touch with her feelings, but that didn’t mean crying all the time, right?

She briefly wondered about stopping by Angie’s lab, but quickly discarded the idea. Coming to Tenko’s lab was hard enough, and this place hadn’t had the bodies of one of her friends carelessly laid out in some gruesome attempt to hide details of murder.

Eventually, she felt something wet dripping down her face. Did dojos have sprinklers? Surely she would have noticed? Her magic would have detected such machinery.

But of course, the wetness of her face was caused by her own tears, as Himiko once again allowed herself the opportunity to cry, this time away from the supportive if oh so pitying eyes of the others.

The Day after the Fourth Trial

Keebo held the headset in his hands, running his fingers over the visor. He sat directly across from where Iruma’s body had been, imagining how he could have prevented this outcome. Should he have talked to her more? Would he have noticed what her plans were? What if he had? How would he have stopped her? What if he had found the light before Kokichi and Gonta? Would that have stopped anything?

With a sigh, the robot leaned back, allowing the headset to drop from his fingers. Even with all the upgrades she had given him, Keebo had found himself powerless to help her. Gonta had the right idea that protecting everyone was an excellent ideal, but how could he succeed where the gentle giant had failed.

Keebo allowed his recording feature to flood the room, Iruma’s voice coming from his shoulders. Sure he could just play back the audio internally, but if he closed his eyes, he could almost feel her next to him.

Just this once, as the robot cried tears he could not produce, he ignored his inner voice telling him this grieving was a waste of time.

The Night of the Fifth Trail

Yet another axe thudded into the training dummy, the array of sharp weapons imbedding the object making it resemble a backwards porcupine more than anything else. Maki turned to grab another, only to find her weapon rack empty. The only things left to her were a handful of crossbow bolts. She picked up one, glaring at the thing. With a sneer, she snapped it in two, tossing the bits on the ground.

Frustrated, she left the room, slamming the door as she went. She stalked down the hallway, not thinking about where she was going. Before she knew it, she found herself climbing a spiral staircase, entering Kaito’s lab.

She glanced around, seeing that apparently someone, likely Shuichi, had gotten one of Kaito’s jackets and had draped it around the center seat of the cockpit. She carefully walked over to the chair, avoiding the several buttons and levers that adorned the interior. 

Maki lowered herself in the chair, it’s uncomfortable design alleviated somewhat by Kaito’s presence. She slowly unwrapped the jacket from the chair, before placing it around her shoulders instead. 

Maki knew not how long she sat there, allowing the scent of the jacket and feel of the lab remind her of the Ultimate Astronaut. Eventually she forced herself to leave, setting the jacket around the chair once again, dotted with small patches of tears.


End file.
